"I nearly pulled my passport out, with the intention of just holding it up for him to see."

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"But there was no friggin' way I was getting in that taxi."

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"Gullible... but not stupid. At least not that day."

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"Risk your life before getting in a car with somebody against your will."

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"Being as big a claustrophobe as I am, it should be fun."

Higher than HighMay 11, 2003La Paz, La Paz, Bolivia

Deja RuseLa Paz, La Paz, Bolivia
Sunday May 11, 2003

Be honest. Do I look incredibly gullible? There are tons of photos of me around here. Be brutal. Or do I have "idiot" painted on my forehead in some part of the spectrum only Bolivians can see?

I ask because of what's been going on here in La Paz over the last few days. I'd been told it was one of the most bizarre cities around. I haven't really seen that. High, yes, at nearly 4,000 meters. But bizarre? Not really. And the most disappointing part is it seems to be lacking in the cosmopolitan-ness of most capital cities. Maybe I'll find that tomorrow when I go to the US embassy. They always seem to be in the hip part of town.

"She said she was a tourist and was lost." But about the gullible thing... I'm walking toward the embassy the other day before realizing it was Saturday and probably closed. This nicely-dressed woman comes up to me and asks, in Spanish, to see the map I'd just been consulting. She said she was a tourist and was lost. I kept hold of my pack and wallet, but believed her as she checked out the map.

Then a guy walks up and pulls out an ID card of some kind. Says he's from the tourist police and needs to see our documents. I'm a little skeptical but I believe him. I nearly pulled my passport out, with the intention of just holding it up for him to see... never letting go. But I thought better of it and said I'd not be showing him anything right there. Then he suggested we go to the tourist police office and discuss this. The woman appeared to have no documents with her at all and would also need to go. There were lots of people on the streets and I wasn't particularly worried. I kept an arm around my pack and a hand on my wallet as we walked, but I more or less believed them.

"I believed them... all three." Then the woman started limping, complaining to the plain-clothed tourist police guy that she couldn't walk very far. I believed this also, even apologized to her thinking the presence of a gringo had dragged her into this inconvenience. In an instant and seemingly without even the wave of his hand, the officer had a taxi pulled over ready to drive us to the tourist police office. The woman was relieved and hopped into the back as the officer got in the front. I believed them... all three. The officer, the woman, the taxi driver. While cautious, I more or less thought it was all for real and we were just going to the headquarters where I could present my passport in safety.

But there was no friggin' way I was getting in that taxi. Still not realizing what was going on, I was apologetic while explaining that I was not, under any circumstances, gonna get in a car with them. It was walking or nothing, I explained. They drove off quickly without me.

"One of whom probably had a firearm." In an instant my stomach jumped into my chest as I realized what had nearly happened. That I was like five feet away from being locked in a car with three criminals, at least one of whom probably had a firearm of some sort. I grabbed my wallet, my passport bag I wear under my clothes, rooted through my pack. Everything was still there but my heart was still freaking out.

I suppose I am gullible. I should've realized something was up as soon as a woman asks a six-and-a-half foot tall blond guy for directions in Bolivia. I remember now that she had cuts on her face, not exactly what you'd expect from the lost upscale tourist she was trying to be. Gullible... but not stupid. At least not that day.

"Something that would have involved a taxi, for sure." Stupid was what happened the next day. I went to the top of a hill overlooking the city to take a few photos. Walking the road back down, a nicely dressed man asks me where the zoo is. Deja vu? No. I really thought he was the Argentinian tourist he claimed to be. I put an arm around my pack and a hand on my wallet, but again believed the scam artist was the real thing... even when he invited me to go visit an Incan ruin site with him. Something that would have involved a taxi, for sure.

But the best part was what happened next. We're approached from behind by a member of the tourist police who needs to see our documents. The SAME GUY. I backed off as I almost started laughing. I wagged the universal Latin American "no finger" at him as I realized he didn't remember me from yesterday. Walking away, I asked if he remembered me then said something that, in retrospect, wasn't so smart.

"Good thing they were already in getaway mode." I told him in what I believe to have been reasonably good Spanish that he and his buddy were complete idiots. Idiotas completas. Looking back it seems I may have called them complete female idiots, but so much the better. Good thing they were already in getaway mode or I might have had the shit beaten out of me. I took off as well, looking back constantly to be sure nobody followed me.

I have no idea how grim the circumstances would have been had I gotten in the car with them. In all likelihood I would simply have been relieved of my belongings and dumped in an alley somewhere. I doubt these guys are murderers or kidnappers. But when you're in a car with somebody like that, things can go very wrong very fast I suppose.

"Once you're in the car the game's over." I just remember a cop I knew when I was a reporter in Raleigh. I was doing a story on a kidnapped kid (or businessman or granny... they all run together) and he said you should risk your life before getting in a car with somebody against your will. Even if there seems to be no choice. Even if there's a gun to your head. Take your chances that they'll miss or not shoot at all before getting into the car. Running away, at least you have a chance he said. Once you're in the car the game's over. I wasn't actively thinking about his advice at the time, but it's probably the subliminal reason I didn't get in the taxi.

So all this has left me with a rather negative feeling about La Paz and I'm looking forward to getting out of here. Usually I enjoy the capital cities. Even the crappy ones. But La Paz just isn't doing it for me. I'm outta here in the morning to a town called Oruru. It's just a stop on the way to Potosi, an old silver mining town where you can tour the still-functioning mines that are supposedly straight out of the 19th century. Cramped, airless, dangerous. Being as big a claustrophobe as I am, it should be fun. I promise not to follow anyone into a taxi until I'm safely out of La Paz.

I think I'm going to see X2 in a few minutes. I'd rather wait till Buenos Aires but it may be gone by then and I've heard the movie's really good.